this post was submitted on 07 Feb 2024
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From a practical standpoint, they don't bite or sting.
But, I have actually been "bitten" by a cicada! I guess it's my claim to fame. Now before anybody gets all pedantic, of course it wasn't a bite. They have needle like mouth parts, which can actually pierce skin but they can't chomp down like a wasp or beetle.
I found this out awhile back when a cicada landed on my hand/finger while I was outside. I felt like the most wonderful Disney princess ever. I let it chill on my finger while I went about my business.
But eventually I felt a jab. Nothing serious or particularly painful. Then I watched as the bug repeatedly lifted up and tried to ram its mouth parts into my skin. It had apparently confused me for a tree and it was trying to feed -- at least that's my best guess. And yes, it did draw blood.
In all my years of life on this Earth, handling these critters every year since early childhood, that was the first and only time it happened.